Why Practices Choose to Dispense
Dispensing your most commonly prescribed medications to your patients at the point of care benefits your practice in ways that go well beyond the bottom line. Here are the benefits our clients cite most often.
Increased Income
Dispensing generates a new source of profit and cash flow that helps offset declining reimbursements and the rising costs of managing a practice. With cash and carry dispensing, you know your cost and set your own price, so you know your margin on every dispense before it happens — and payment is collected at the time of service.
Increased Productivity and Time Savings
Fewer prescriptions sent to outside pharmacies means fewer pharmacy phone calls and fax requests interrupting your day. Many practices find that dispensing actually saves staff time on net, helping your team focus on patient care and each patient’s experience with your practice.
Reduced Liability
The physician is the best advocate for the patient and has the complete facts. Directly dispensing your prescriptions ensures the patient leaves with the exact medication you prescribed — no substitutions, no transcription errors, no handoffs.
Improved Patient Outcomes
Physicians are increasingly evaluated on patient outcomes. Dispensing your prescriptions directly can increase patient compliance: patients who leave the office with medication in hand have already cleared the biggest hurdle to starting treatment.
Compete with Retail “Mini Clinics”
Retail pharmacies continue to compete with primary care physicians through their walk-in clinics. By adding PharmaLink’s medication dispensing solution, primary care physicians begin to level the playing field — patients can see their own physician and pick up their medication in a single stop.
A Full-Service Practice Image
Patients want choices about where to fill their prescriptions, including at your practice. Offering in-office dispensing signals a modern, convenient, full-service practice, which supports patient satisfaction, retention, and referrals.
What the Research Says
If you’d like to read more, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (part of the NIH) has a good article titled Good Intentions, Uncertain Outcomes: Physician Dispensing in Offices and Clinics that discusses many of these arguments in depth.
Why It Works with PharmaLink
These benefits only materialize if dispensing is easy to operate — and that is exactly what PharmaLink’s turnkey solution is built for. Dispensing a prepackaged medication takes just 15-30 seconds, so no additional staff is required. Labels print automatically, and PDMP reporting is automatic in all states where PharmaLink operates.
Keeping your shelf stocked is simple, too. We offer more than 2,000 branded and generic medications, orders typically arrive within 48-72 hours, and shipping is free on orders over $250. And setup is fast: once we receive your completed application and any state-required licensing, your program can be live in as little as 3 business days.
Ready to Get Started?
Adding PharmaLink’s medication dispensing system to your current services is a sure way to increase cash flow to your practice while giving patients a service they genuinely value. The system is easy to set up, and we will be there to assist you every step of the way.
Contact us today to request more information and get your practice started on the road to increased patient care and profitability. Curious how the day-to-day process works? See our Dispensing Overview, or learn what dispensing does for your patients on our Patient Benefits page.